lanica's review against another edition
2.0
Genre: Realism
Audience: Young Adult
Setting: London
Notes: Bookclub Discussion
Review:
Martin is the leader of The Gang of Three, three tight friends since grade school who are known as good-natured trouble makers and class clowns. He also has a beautiful girlfriend and loving parents. Who will stay with him after a car accident disfigures his face with burns?
Billed as "A groundbreaking novel about prejudice..." some might expect a heavy-handed look at relationships. Instead what we get is a weak overview of possible conflict that leads nowhere. There are a range of topics touched on lightly throughout the book, but no issues are delved into deeply enough to live up to this billing.
Audience: Young Adult
Setting: London
Notes: Bookclub Discussion
Review:
Martin is the leader of The Gang of Three, three tight friends since grade school who are known as good-natured trouble makers and class clowns. He also has a beautiful girlfriend and loving parents. Who will stay with him after a car accident disfigures his face with burns?
Billed as "A groundbreaking novel about prejudice..." some might expect a heavy-handed look at relationships. Instead what we get is a weak overview of possible conflict that leads nowhere. There are a range of topics touched on lightly throughout the book, but no issues are delved into deeply enough to live up to this billing.
bea_666's review against another edition
4.0
An interesting book about the realities of facial injuries, facial reconstruction, and public perception of the people that this affects. I enjoyed this book and read it quickly, but found the language used by the young people unrealistic at times.
bianca_anina's review against another edition
3.0
How would you react when your life makes a dramatic change?
The book is about Martin, 15 years old, and is three best friends. It takes Place in London, England. They are average Teenager: good looking, a girlfriend, parties and a family. One night Martin went on a ride with Peter, which he knows from school. His friend Matthew stays behind, because he had a feeling that nothing good will happen. After the ride Martin finds himself waking up in a hospital with a disfigured body and face.
Martin now has to deal with his new life. The way people react towards him is just one challenge. The book shows us that we don’t need alcohol or drugs to stop pain from being hurtful. There are other ways to deal with pain, in which we might get a feeling of happiness out of it. Everybody has ups and downs in their lifes, so has Martin. He learns on his journey how to deal with these situations. We have to find our own way to get over the downs and to stay more on the ups.
“Martin learnt quickly to take every day as it came and never expect one day to be the same as the last.”
This book is a page turner. I have read “Face” in one sitting. However I would have hoped that we were a part on Martins life more. Zephaniah could have described Martins feelings more deeply. There was an unsatisfying feeling left, because I never had the feeling of knowing who Martin really is, unfortunately the book is written in Martins view. The author wants us to be thankful for the things we have and to appreciate these more.
Overall the book is all right but nothing special.
The book is about Martin, 15 years old, and is three best friends. It takes Place in London, England. They are average Teenager: good looking, a girlfriend, parties and a family. One night Martin went on a ride with Peter, which he knows from school. His friend Matthew stays behind, because he had a feeling that nothing good will happen. After the ride Martin finds himself waking up in a hospital with a disfigured body and face.
Martin now has to deal with his new life. The way people react towards him is just one challenge. The book shows us that we don’t need alcohol or drugs to stop pain from being hurtful. There are other ways to deal with pain, in which we might get a feeling of happiness out of it. Everybody has ups and downs in their lifes, so has Martin. He learns on his journey how to deal with these situations. We have to find our own way to get over the downs and to stay more on the ups.
“Martin learnt quickly to take every day as it came and never expect one day to be the same as the last.”
This book is a page turner. I have read “Face” in one sitting. However I would have hoped that we were a part on Martins life more. Zephaniah could have described Martins feelings more deeply. There was an unsatisfying feeling left, because I never had the feeling of knowing who Martin really is, unfortunately the book is written in Martins view. The author wants us to be thankful for the things we have and to appreciate these more.
Overall the book is all right but nothing special.
technomage's review against another edition
4.0
A great story will definitely be reading more from this author.
millylewis's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
dolphin_reader's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
titanic's review against another edition
5.0
"I always thought that these things happened to other people until it happened to me. The experience really changed my life, but I found out who my friends were and I got to know me."
This book was so much better than I had thought it was going to be. It had some really strong messages within and it was really shocking. It wasn't anything like I was expecting.
One major message this book focuses on is not to judge someone on their appearance and I feel like the author did a brilliant job on covering that. He wrote about the Martin's feelings and experiences so well and it felt so realistic and I got quickly sucked into the book, I couldn't put it down.
Martin's parents and Mr. Green were amazing characters, as were the doctors, and I really enjoyed reading the chapters he was in hospital despite it pretty much being the same, it was comforting to know Martin was getting looked after. It truly broke my heart when his friends began to abandon him, but it was done so well and so realistically that you feel so much emotion and experience with Martin as he does. The author does a fantastic job of bringing Martin alive in this book. I'm just grateful Martin's got new friends who care about him and don't mind that he's got scars. They accept him.
This was such a good book man.
This book was so much better than I had thought it was going to be. It had some really strong messages within and it was really shocking. It wasn't anything like I was expecting.
One major message this book focuses on is not to judge someone on their appearance and I feel like the author did a brilliant job on covering that. He wrote about the Martin's feelings and experiences so well and it felt so realistic and I got quickly sucked into the book, I couldn't put it down.
Martin's parents and Mr. Green were amazing characters, as were the doctors, and I really enjoyed reading the chapters he was in hospital despite it pretty much being the same, it was comforting to know Martin was getting looked after. It truly broke my heart when his friends began to abandon him, but it was done so well and so realistically that you feel so much emotion and experience with Martin as he does. The author does a fantastic job of bringing Martin alive in this book. I'm just grateful Martin's got new friends who care about him and don't mind that he's got scars. They accept him.
This was such a good book man.
dixiesparkles's review against another edition
1.0
I understand the message he was trying to get across, but maybe stick to poetry next time. The writing is horrendous, the storyline is filled with so many holes, and the characters are unrealistic. It's just irritating rather than inspiring.
Read something better that says the same thing!
Read something better that says the same thing!
rebecca_m20099's review against another edition
1.0
Never again. has the author ever even read a book